Realistically, Emma Hayes wasn't going to go her entire career managing the United States women's national team without a loss. She's been on the job for less than a year and entered the SheBelieves Cup with an impressive 15-0-2 record, which included leading the squad on a magical run to a gold medal at the Paris Olympics last summer.
But on Wednesday night at Snapdragon Stadium in San Diego, the unbeaten streak came to an end when Japan edged the USWNT 2-1 to win the SheBelieves Cup title.
While a defeat is always difficult to digest, Hayes wants her team to remember this moment and also think about the big picture.
"I think I always go back to what our objectives were in the first place," Hayes told reporters after the match. "And that was to deepen our player pool with opportunities in high-pressure situations against top opponents, and that's what tonight especially was about."
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The USWNT doesn't have a major tournament until the 2027 World Cup in Brazil. Between now and then, Hayes has repeated that her intention is to broaden the player pool by developing the next generation. While it would have been nice to end this camp hoisting a sixth straight — and eighth overall — SheBelieves Cup trophy, it's not about winning in 2025.
"I'm not going to sit around here and say I like losing, I don't," Hayes said. "But I'm the leader of the program and there's no disgrace to be beaten by a team that have probably between them about 800 caps. Like, let's have perspective. I think it's important to be calm in this moment."
Hayes pointed out that Japan has 28-year-old Man City midfielder Yui Hasegawa playing the pivot while the U.S. was starting 17-year-old Lily Yohannes in the same position. Tara McKeown, who made her debut in a win over Colombia, played center back alongside Emily Sonnett for the first time in front of goalkeeper Jane Campbell, who only has 10 appearances for the USWNT. Hayes spoke of progress from young players like 21-year-old Ally Sentnor, who scored two goals in two starts. She noted that while it's crucial to have Catarina Macario back, she's still building back from her injury.
If the U.S. had rolled out its most experienced team, then maybe the result would have been different. But the reality was that "Triple Espresso" members Trinity Rodman, Mallory Swanson and Sophia Wilson were unavailable for roster selection, and Rose Lavelle and Naomi Girma are coming back from injuries. Couple that with the fact that Japan's lineup consisted mostly of in-season European-based players compared to USWNT, where a majority are in NWSL preseason.
Hayes told her team not to panic and that it's OK to be disappointed. She'd rather the learnings and losses come now instead of later. The whole point of this year is about growth.
"Development isn't linear," Hayes said. "I think you need moments to give you a sense of where you are in that path. But I think it's exciting, and I think our future is exciting regardless of the result.
"We played one of the best teams in the world today whose nucleus have played together a long time and it showed. We need to build the group and a larger pool that we think are going to progress us to the World Cup. And now we have to develop our game model so that it plays out with the qualities that we know you need to have to beat the very, very best teams at the top level."
The USWNT will next convene in April ahead of two matches against Olympic silver medalists Brazil in Los Angeles and San Jose. Hayes and her staff are already working to figure out which players will be ready to compete with the senior team and which need more time with the Under 23 squad. Both teams will train together in LA in a similar fashion to how Hayes ran the January USWNT camp concurrently with a future talent identification camp. Claire Hutton, Michelle Cooper and Gisele Thompson are all examples of how impressive performances with the U-23's can lead to opportunities with the USWNT, as all three earned first caps this past week after participating in the Futures Camp last month.
There's a "thorough process," Hayes said, for deciding which progression path they believe is best for each player. And it includes multiple people from both the youth and senior staffs.
Even if Rodman, Swanson, Wilson, Lavelle and Girma are back in April, some young players likely impressed Hayes enough to get another senior call-up.
Sentnor, for example, made three goal contributions – her two goals plus an assist in the win over Australia — and Hayes said "she's got qualities that can decide a game." McKeown received her first USWNT invite in January and played in all three SheBelieves matches, starting two. Hayes said she "learned about build up angles" and "how you break pressure against the best opponents" and that "top, top-level games are usually decided by very marginal moments."
Yazmeen Ryan, who had four caps entering this window, had the pinpoint assist on Macario's goal vs. Colombia, showed an overall strength in the passing game and in her ability to carry the ball up the pitch. Next steps for the 26-year-old forward would be more from a defensive perspective and "determining the right moments when to step up and press the ball and when to hold your position," Hayes said. "I think there's another layer of learning for her, but I think she's shown some really good signs and shown the quality in her execution."
As for Yohannes, Hayes has seen clear improvement over the past 12 months. She went to her first USWNT camp a year ago and since then has been playing for Ajax and is "very hungry to learn, to improve," Hayes said.
There's been attention on Yohannes for the better part of the past year because of her age, talent and because up until November, she was deciding whether she wanted to commit to play for the U.S. or the Netherlands national teams. While there's plenty of curiosity around her role with the USWNT, Hayes cautioned that "it's still early on and I don't think we should get carried away with it."
"I think she's someone who deserves to develop without putting too much focus and attention on it," Hayes said, noting that in the games she played, Sam Coffey did the work behind her while Lindsey Heaps did the work in front to allow Yohannes to perform and put the team in a strong position.
Hayes can layer in principles and strategy and put players in a framework and an environment where they understand their roles. But she can't give them the things that take time, like building chemistry and figuring out each other's tendencies – characteristics that could have contributed to multiple turnovers vs. Japan. It's a reason why Hayes has been experimenting with player combinations and taking risks, like when she changed the entire starting XI from game one vs. Colombia to game two vs. Australia, both of which resulted in victories for the Americans.
Ultimately, these first games of the year will serve as a learning curve and an opportunity to mature as a team with 2027 always top of mind. Players will absorb the information from this window, go back to their clubs, then meet up in April — and again in May and June — as they continue down this journey.
"We have to be patient in our expectations," Hayes said. "It's important for us to be reflective that we are where we are in the stage of our development and not to compare ourselves to anyone else. Just go through the thorough processes that we will do to make sure we're on track for the thing that we want to achieve and build the confidence in the program to keep doing what we're doing.
"Because I genuinely believe we're going in the right direction."
Laken Litman covers college football, college basketball and soccer for FOX Sports. She previously wrote for Sports Illustrated, USA Today and The Indianapolis Star. She is the author of "Strong Like a Woman," published in spring 2022 to mark the 50th anniversary of Title IX. Follow her at @LakenLitman.
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